Toothbrush holder and sterilizer



Patented Sept. 2, 1924.

UNITED STATES WALTER H. COLLINS, OI SUMMIT, NEW JERSEY.

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Application iled April 11, 19. Serial No. 831,428.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER H. COLLINS,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Summit, in the county of Union and State of New Jerse have invented a new and Im roved Toot brush Holder and Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section through a holder, disclosing an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view through Figure 1, approximately on line 2-2 Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to one side of the upper part of Figure 1 but showing a modified construction of cover.

Referrin to the accompanying drawing by numerals, 1 indicates a container which may be of any desired material, preferably of a material which is non-transparent and which may be readily maintained clean and sanitary. In the drawing, for the pur ose of illustration, the container 1 has con shown as glass and has been formed with a slightly tapering lower section 2 and a tubu= lar upper motion 3 with a shoulder 4 at the point of juncture, said shoulder acting in the double capacity of a shoulder for receiving the 'plate 5 and also as a shoulder to be placed on top of a bracket of some desired kind. The device may not only be used for holding tooth brushes as illustrated in Figure 1, but may'also be used as a container for false teeth or partly for tooth brushes and partly for false teeth. The plate 5 may be of any desired material and is formed with a number of a ertures 6, each aperture being numbered y one of the legends 7 so as to readily distin ish or properly locate the brushes when t e same are applied or removed Ad acent each aperture 6 is a recess 8 whlch acts as a dramage pan for I the respective brushes and causes the water to drain through theapertures 6 and in addition acts as the support ing surface for the brushes as well as a structure for preventing shifting of the brushes laterally.

Above and preferably in line with the recesses 8 are apertures 9 which have been shown as slots, said apertures being formed in the cover or lid 10 which is preferably made of the same material as the body 1 and is formed preferably with a knob or handle 11 whereby it may be readily ap lied and removed. This cover is provider? with an overhanging annular portion 12 resting on the top edge of the tubular section 3 and with a depending annular flange 13 fitting loosely in the section 3. The section 3 is provided with a depression 14 at one point for receiving the lug 15 depending from the annular portion 12. This arrangement of depression and lug is to cause the aperture 9 to always line up with the recess 8 and, consequently, to be directly above the bristles of the various brushes. This permits any vapor in the container to freely escape and permits the vapor from the bristles to directly escape through the apertures. In addition disinfectant 16 of any desired kind is preferably positioned in the bottom of the section 2 and the fumes from this disinfectant are adapted to pass upwardly through the various apertures 6, through the bristles of the brushes and eventually out the apertures 9, thus thoroughly disinfecting the insired, instead of having an annular interior flange 13 as shown in Figure 1, an annular exterior flange 17 may be provided as shown in Figure 3.

In constructing the top or cover 10, the same may be of the same material as the body 1 or of other material, as for instance, a non-breakable cover. In the accompanying drawing, six apertures have been shown for accommodating six brushes but it will be evident that a greater or even less number could be provided without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is also evident that instead of making the plate 5 of lass or similar material, it could be made 0% other material, as for instance, metal, and could be made thin and pressed into shape for producing the recess 8, the essential feature being in this respect to provide a depression or socket for the lower part of the bristles and an aperture for accommodatin the handle, the

' draining water, and the Iumes from the disreadily the fumes from the sterilizing ma- 'terial 16 to pass into the bristles. The plate 5 is also provided with a lug 19 fitting into a suitable notch 20 whereby the aperture 18 and associated parts are properly aligned with the apertures 9 in the lid or cover 10.

What I claim is:-

- 1. A tooth brush holder, comprising a container formed with a shoulder, a cover for the container, a plate arranged in the container and mounted on said shoulder for receiving tooth brushes with the bristle portions thereof supported above the plate, said plate being formed with an aperture for each tooth brush, and-a depression adjacent each aperture, said shoulder and plate being spaced downwardly from the top of the container sufliciently-to accommodate that art of the tooth brush supported above'the 'p ate.

2. A holder for tooth brushes, false teeth and the like, comprisin a container provided with an upper an lower section, said container being formed with a shoulder at the juncture of the up er and lower sections, a plate carried by said shoulder acting as a support for brushes and false teeth, said plate havin openings through which the handles of t e brushes may extend into the lower section, a cover for said upper section formed with a plurality of a ertures, and means for causing the cover to e positioned so that the apertures will be aligned with the brushes when the cover is'correctly positioned.

3. A tooth brush holder, comprising a container, a supporting plate carried by said container intermediate its height, said plate 'aeoaeee having a plurality of a rtures therein ac-- commodating the han es of the tooth brushes, said container being adapted to contain disinfectant or sterilizing material in the bottom thereof whereby the fumes therefrom may pass upwardly through said apertures and into contact with the bristles of the brushes, a cover for said container having apertures spaced apart an equal distance to the aperture of said plate, said container and said cover being provided with interlocking structures for causing the apertures in the cover to align with the apertures in the plate when the cover is properly positioned whereby the fumes from the disinfectant material will strike the tooth brushes as the fumes pass out through said apertures.

A. tooth brush holder, comprising a container formed with a shoulder, a cover for the container, a brush receiving plate arranged in the container and mounted on said shoulder for en porting the brushes in the container, said shoulder and plate being spaced downwardly from the top of the container sufliciently to accommodate that part of the tooth brush supported above the plate while the remaining part of the container'receives the rema ning part of the tooth brush.

5. In a tooth brush holder, a plate adapted to receive tooth brushes and support the same, said plate being formed with a series of apertures through which the handles of the brushes are adapted to extend while the bristles and the backs of the brushes remain above the plate, said plate being formed with a depression adjacent each of said apertures for receiving part of said bristles, and a slot extending from said apertures for substantially the full length of said depressions whereby the drainings from the bristles of each brush will be caught in the depression immediatel therebelow and will be directed through said slot.

WALTER H. COLLINS, 

